Kitchenhand (General)
What the work is
Assists kitchen and service staff in preparing and serving food.
Would you enjoy the work?
These are the main tasks in the official description. Mark how each one sounds to you.
- Assists in the preparation of food by chopping, peeling and slicing ingredients
- Assists with simple tasks relating to the cooking, baking, plating and presentation of food
- Assists in stocking and replenishing food supplies and ingredients
- Assists in the setup and pack down of kitchen stations
- Follows the instructions of other kitchen staff
- Follows food safety and hygiene standards
- May assist in the packaging and plating of food for delivery or service in hospitals, aged care facilities and off-site events
Try it
A simulation and a case study from this kind of work, set in the kitchen of a busy hotel that supplies a restaurant, a bar and a function room. They are fictional.
The kind of days you could have
Good days
- The dish pit is cleared, the kitchen is spotless and the chef nods thanks as you go
- A pastry chef trusts you to finish a batch alone for the first time
- A tough Saturday night ends and the team shares a meal at the back door
Hard days
- Standing at the sink as plates arrive faster than you can wash them
- Steam, heat and a wet floor that never stays dry for long
- Being told what to do by three people at once when everyone is busy
Written by Career Calling as a general guide. Real roles vary by employer and place.
Work a mission
Step into a simulated workplace in this field, with a brief from your manager.
Description and tasks: Australian Bureau of Statistics, Occupation Standard Classification for Australia, 2024, Version 1.0 (opens another site), occupation 851231, used under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 licence. The skill guide above is our plain English summary.